
lUastnated 



12 Liantettn Slides 



WILLIAM H. RAU 

PHILADELPHIA 

1890 



A 



DESCRIPTIVE READING 



ON 



ALASKA 



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ILLUSTRATED BY TWELVE LANTERN 
SLIDES 




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WILLIAM H. RAU 

PHILADELPHIA 
1890 



Copyright, 1890, by William H. Rau, 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



1. Totem Posts. 

2. Sitka from the Castle. 

3. Street in Sitka. 

4. Russian Castle, etc. 

5. Greek Church in Sitka 

6. Block House, Sitka. 

7. Harbor of Juneau. 
S. Pyramid Harbor. 
9. Karta Bay. 

10. Indian Women, 
I r. Muir Glacier. 
12. Curios. 



/ 



ALASKA. 



The rich territory of Alaska, which Russia virtually 
presented as a gift to this country in 1867, when it 
was transferred to the United States for ;g7,2oo,ooo in 
gold, made our National domain about one-sixth larger 
than it was prior to that time. Its distance from the 
greater part of our country has made it look small, 
but a thought as to its more than half a million square 
miles of territory, with its lofty mountains and great 
rivers, its 4,000 miles of coast, and its island chain 
stretching out more than a thousand miles toward the 
Asiatic coast, must quickly dispel such an idea, while 
even but a casual consideration of the vast advantages 
which will accrue to this country when its universal 
resources are more fully developed must bring the 
conviction that the overture of Secretary Seward 
Avhich brought into our hands such a treasure was one 
of the wisest acts in that great statesman's career. 



to* 



1. Totem Posts. — These curiously carved pillars, 
known as totem posts, have been the subject of much 
discussion, and various significations have been as- 
cribed to them, Henry W. Elliott, of the Smith- 
sonian Institution, who has written a valuable book 
on "Our Arctic Province" says: "The oddly-carved 
totem posts, which appear in every village, sometimes 
like a forest of dead trees at distant sight, are, broadly 
speaking, divisible unto two classes ; that is to say, 

(o27) 



528 ALASKA. - 

the clan or family pillars, and those erected as mem- 
orials of the dead. There has been too much written 
in regard to these grotesque features seeking to endow 
■ them with idolatry, superstitions and other fancies of 
the savage mind. Nothing of the kind, in my opinion, 
belongs to the subject. The image posts of the totem 
order are generally from 30 to 50 feet in height, with 
a diameter of 3 to 5 feet at the base, tapering slightly 
upward. Those grotesque figures which cover these 
posts from top to bottom, closely, grouped together, 
have little or no serious significance whatever ; they 
always display the totem of the owner, and a very 
marked similarity runs through the carvings of this 
character in each village, though they have a wide 
range of variation when one settlement is contrasted 
with another. I am unable to give any definite 
explanation, that is worthy of attention, of the real 
meaning of all those strange designs, perhaps, in 
truth there is none ; they are simply ornamental 
doorways." 

2. vSitka from the Castle.— The port of Sitka, the 
capital and chief town of Alaska, is situated on the 
west coast of Baranov Island, and its location is con- 
sidered one of the finest, for natural beauty and 
impressiveness of scenery, to be found in the whole 
country. It was founded in 1799 by Alexander 
Baranov, a bold, indomitable and cruel man of great 
executive talent who subjugated the natives of this 
region and established the Russian domination which 
continued until the territory was secured by the 
United States. Its early history is a story of violence 
and bloodshed and there were many fierce conflicts 



ALASKA. 529 

between the Russians and the natives before the 
position of the former as rulers became secure. But 
the place was formerly a scene of much greater 
activity than it is now under the quieter rule of the 
American government. Then there was a large 
Russian garrison and many official representatives of 
the government at St. Petersburg, besides the imposing 
ecclesiastical establishment maintained by the Bishop 
of the Greek Church whose jurisdiction covered all 
Alaska, not to mention the stir caused by the numer- 
ous vessels arriving and departing, owing to the 
concentration of the entire trade of the territory at 
this port. It is known as one of the rainiest places 
in the world outside of the tropics. 

3. Street in Sitka.— The contrast of the present 
Sitka with the Russian Sitka is a striking one. 
Travelers say that the general air of the place is one 
of decay. The original Russian houses scattered 
through the town are falling into ruin and half of 
them are tenantless, the present population not being 
more than half of what it was under Russian rule, 
when the commerce of the territory was concentrated 
here. In one direction Sitka has progressed under 
American dominion, and that is in the way of cleanli- 
ness. The Russian officers were content to have 
their own quarters clean and did not concern them- 
selves about the rest of the town. The American 
garrison, however, when it took possession of the 
town, undertook a sanitary reformation and made a 
considerable improvement by laying sidewalks and 
curbs, placing gravel in the streets in order to make 
travel in them more agreeable, besides repairing and 



53° ALASKA. 

repainting some of the older houses. They also 
constructed the first wagon road in Alaska extending 
about a mile from the steamer's landing-place back to 
Indian River. 

4. Ru-ssian Castle, etc. — One of the most striking 
features in the Sitkan landscape, seen in the left of 
the picture, is the Russian Castle. The castle was 
built by Baranov, after he had captured its site from 
the natives in a bloody battle, in 1804. This fortifi- 
cation became the nucleus of the settlement, then 
officially known as New Archangel, but whose name 
in time came to be Sitka, derived from the name of 
the savage tribe Seet-kah. In the castle and the large 
apartment houses built by the Russians, the con- 
querors lived in great comfort, the buildings being 
constructed so as to afford ample protection against 
the weather, and well furnished. At the castle a lavish 
liospitality was dispensed, and it is told that the 
entertainment given to favored guests would have 
"been fit for royalty itself. All this, however, is a 
thing of memory only, and the old stronghold nov/ 
crumbles slowly into ruin for want of use. Its decay 
is slow on account of its substantial construction, but 
the damp climate is bound to come off conqueror. 
"The panorama from its cupola is one of exceeding 
"beauty, including a fine view of the Bay of Sitka with 
its many little islands, and with the mountains for a 
TDacksround. 



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5. Oreek Church, Sitka. — This view shows the 
finest building the capital can boast, that is to say the 
Greek Church, which did not pass out of the custody 



ALASKA. 531 

of the original owners when the territory changed 
proprietors. As may be seen, the church has been 
kept in pretty good repair. While the pomp attend- 
ing the ministrations of the time when a Bishop of 
Alaska made this his Episcopal residence, has become 
a matter of history only, the church is still richly fur- 
nished with silverware and candleabra, and its walls 
plentifully decorated with pictures, and the two priests 
who officiate at its altar are attired in rich vestments. 
A choir of boys sings the musical parts of the service. 
There are no seats and the worshipers may either 
stand or kneel as the exigencies of the service require. 
There is also a Russian chapel for the Indians and a 
Lutheran chapel, both falling into ruin. 

6. Block-house, Sitka. — In the panorama of Sitka 
the old block-houseranks with the Greek Church and 
the Russian Castle, as one of the prominent landmarks. 
It is a relic of the times when the savageness of the. 
natives and the severity of their Russian conquerors 
made their intercourse one of continuous enmity, if 
not open fighting. An idea of the necessity for such 
defenses is had from the story of an occurrence that 
took place in the winter of 1 799-1800, Baranov and 
his force had erected a stockaded post on the main 
island a few miles north of the present site of Sitka, 
but two American fur-trading vessels appeared and 
opened a fur traffic with the natives, as it appeared, in 
contempt of the rights of Baranov. The bold Baranov 
resolved to stop such a proceeding and hastened away 
to the Russian Company's headquarters at Kadiak 
for help to drive away the intruders. In his absence, 
however, a greater calamit}- than the presence of the 



532 . ALASKA. 

enterprising Americans befel the post, as the Kolosh- 
ians rose and wiped the post out of existence, several 
thousand of them by a pre-arranged plan, surrounding 
the block-house, massacreing its inmates and carrying 
off over 3,000 skins fromthe storehouses. Four years 
later Baranov drove the savages out of their fortifica- 
tions on the present site of the castle, and founded 
the present town of Sitka. It was probably at this 
period that the block-house was built. 

7. Harbor of Juneau. — The harbor of Juneau 
City whose morning mists are here seen melting before 
the rising sun, is the shipping point for the only 
mining center in the territory of Alaska at the present 
day. A persistent search has been* made for the 
precious metals in this part of the territory and gold 
can be found in the sand of all the streams, but seldom 
in quantities to justify the opening of a mining 
settlement. Juneau City is a big name for a small 
village of rough mining cabins located on the north 
side of Gastineaux Channel. Near by, on Donglas 
Island, is located the large gold-quartz stamp-mill of 
the Treadwell Mine, where there is what is supposed 
to be an inexhaustible vein of rich ore. The diggings 
at Juneau City are on the placer order and their out- 
put limited. The first prospecting party camped here 
in 1880. 

8. Pjraniid Harbor.— The shore of this Bay, 
with its border of forest, scarcely bears the appear- 
ance of an Arctic coast, yet, it lies about 2500 miles 
north of San Francisco, and part of the year twilight 
here lasts all night. From the line of trees and the 



ALASKA. 533 

mountainous nature of the background, it might be 
supposed to have been a piece of the coast of Maine. 
In the Sitkan region saw-mills have been erected to 
saw up the timber found there. The varieties in the 
vicinity of the capital include the yellow and red 
cedar, the Sitkan spruce which is the most abundant 
variety, besides the hemlock and the balsam fir. The 
cedar is the most valuable of the lot. The forests are 
almost impenetrable owing to the great growth of 
brush which encumbers the ground. This condition 
of affairs is attributed to the absence of forest fires, 
which in our own country do such inestimable damage, 
which immunity is due to the extraordinary dampness 
of the climate, caused by the drizzling rain that falls 
the greater part of the time. The cedar is usually 
found nearest the shore. Ferns of the most beautiful 
description grow luxuriantly in tlie underbrush. On 
other parts of the coast many of the trees charac- 
teristic of lower latitudes are found. 

9. Karta Bay. — In Karta Bay which is described 
is one of the loveliest bodies of water that can well 
be imagined are caught some of the finest salmon 
known to exist, and which constitute one of Alaska's 
great sources of wealth. These wonderful fish are 
known all over the world through the agency of the 
canning factories located on the fishing grounds. 
The king salmon reaches an average length of four 
feet, and an average weight of at least fifty pounds. 
They come in from the sea in the latter part of May 
and as they run along the shore seeking the outlets 
of the rivers, up which they go to spawn, the natives 
spear them in great numbers. This vast wealth of 



534 ALASKA. 

food, however, is greatly wasted by the natives, and 
it has been estimated that each Indian of the Cook's 
Inlet region provides for himself a daily allowance of 
about ten pounds of salmon, in addition to all the 
food, such as meat, berries, etc. The size of the 
schools in which the salmon travel in parts of the 
Alaskan region is indicated by the statement, seriously 
made, that in the river at Karlook, the run is so great 
at times that it interferes with the free movement of 
canoes crossing the stream. 

10. Indian TVonieij. — As will be noticed the 
Indians of Alaska have progressed considerably in 
the outward ways of civilization, having virtually 
discarded their savage dress and with it such barbaric 
ornaments as rings through their lips and noses. 
Says Prof. Elliott: "The daily routine of the dusky 
housekeeper is a very different one indeed from that 
characteristic of woman's labor in caring for our 
homes. No sweeping or dusting in the Indian rancJi- 
eric\ no bed-chambers to change the linen in and tidy 
up ; no kitchen or servants to look after ; nothing 
whatever of the kind. Yet the Indian matron is 
always busy. She has to hew the firewood and drag 
it in ; she has to carry water and attend to all of the 
rude cooking and filling of the trenchers ; she looks 
after the mats and the sewing of the children's furs 
and other garments — not much to be sure in the way 
of dress making — she has to make all of the tedious 
berry trips, picking and drying of the fruit, as well as 
attending to the preservation, in the same manner, of 
the fish and game which the man brings in. She has 
an infinite amount of drudging to do in the line of 



r 



ALASKA. . 535 

gathering certain herbs, bark and shell-fish. She has, 
however, no washing whatever of clothes to do for 
anybody, except what little she may see fit to do for 
herself; she never treats the dishes even to that ordeal. 
Every individual attends to his or her own washing — 
if the husband wants a clean shirt, he washes it him- 
self." 

11. Muir Glacier. — It has been estimated that 
there are more than 5,000 glaciers on the slopes of the 
lofty chain of mountains that form the eastern 
boundary of our arctic territory, from Mt. St. Elias 
southward, — reminders of that distant epoch, when, 
according to Agassiz, a great ocean of ice, sweeping 
down from the polar region, engulfed half the earth. 
While many of these great masses of ice never 
emerge from the narrow waterways among the islands 
along the coast, some however, [like the Muir glacier, 
which we see here, occupy positions fronting on the 
deep water, so that vessels may go directly up to 
their bases. The Muir glacier, was named in honor 
of Professor John Muir, the Pacific coast geologist 
who is believed to be the first white man to explore 
the glaciers of Glacier Bay. It varies in the height 
of its escarpment from 100 to 500 feet, and no bottom 
is found just oft the glacier at 600 fathoms. Its 
length is variously stated to be from 40 to 200 miles, 
and at its termination it is about 3 miles wide. Its 
average movement is 40 feet per day and it discharges 
daily into the ocean about 150,000,000 cubic feet of 
ice, which breaks off in avalanches and rushes down 
into the water with terrific crashes and roars. The 
glaciers of Alaska, while not rivalling in size the vast 



53^ ALASKA. 

ice accumulations of Greenland, surpass in grandeur 
any of the better known glaciers in the Alps or 
Himalayas, the Muir being from 5 to 10 times larger 
than the glacier of Mt. Blanc. 

12. Curios. — Here we have a group of Alaskan 
curiosities collected by Dr. Charles Schafifer of 
Philadelphia. The most conspicuous objects are the 
snow shoes, purchased of a squaw at Pyramid Harbor. 
At the upper corners are seen baskets, bought at 
Juneau, woven of the bark of roots, dyed, making 
strong and durable receptacles capable of holding 
water. Beneath one of the baskets is a wooden por- 
ridge basin, and below the other a wooden medicine 
stick or charm. The central figure and the two images 
on either side are representations of totem posts at 
Sitka. Beside the central figure on the right is a 
wooden toy-boat. Other objects in the group are a 
salad spoon and fork, two carved horn spoons, several 
silver bracelets, and a sto7ie pipe covered with gro- 
tesque figures of animals. The cumbrous V-shaped 
article in the lower left-hand corner is a wooden fish- 
hook with an iron barb tied on with strips of bark. 
Near the central and upper portion of the group are 
four bone charms with curved handles, used by the 
medicine men, and said to be held in such superstitious 
awe by the Indians that they will not enter a room 
where they are kept if they know it. In the centre is 
a 6 inch rule by which tlie size of the various articles 
may be calculated. 



